Oh, it looks like you startled her!

(Yes, the opening animation is based on this scene.)

Work has continued on Sounds of Her Love 2 - and so - as it has been a few months since our last devlog, we are here again with another round of updates and announcements to keep you all satiated until the game releases and you get to watch Ceri play the harp.

Yes, she plays the harp! If it wasn't particularly obvious in the plot summary, cover image and opening animation, Ceri will be playing the harp in SOHL2. The above CG by Kimiyoto[x.com] is already enough to captivate us, but we have more lovely things planned throughout the game as Ceri hones her skills for the graduation ceremony!

This also includes new backgrounds by Kjkjmulo[x.com], as shown here inside Ceri's house. It is a nice feeling to be able to re-build this world using original backgrounds, imagining the events from the previous game in this setting (i.e retconning the interior design of Ceri's house).

Further to the fantastic art updates are the efforts of our cast, as revealed in our last update, and our composer Red Robotix[x.com]! It's been really fun having all four main VAs together in one scene, topped off by a unique theme for the music club!

We're also still in the process of expanding the SOHL2 cast, our sights are now focused on casting the side characters and background voices for the game. This includes fan-favourites from the original SOHL (such as school buddies, MC and Ceri's family, etc). Watch this space as we will be making new announcements soon!

And finally, the part which has been intentionally left to the end of the post, it's more than likely that we are going to have to delay Sounds of Her Love 2 into next year.

This probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following our other/previous projects, but in order to add in all of the above, I feel that an extra couple of months development would benefit us.

I say 'more than likely' as I have never been the type to commit to anything I'm not 100% sure on. Work on the project thus far has been self-funded and development time is coming at the expense of balancing other commitments, the worst thing that could happen would be to crunch to finish the game and release something that isn't up to the standards we set out at the beginning - so in that sense it is better to flag this now than to leave people disappointed.

Ironically, Sounds of Her Love 2 may end up being an anniversary project after all (no guarantees).

I hope you can all understand! Of course, the best place to stay up-to-date with development news and progress is over on our X/Twitter[x.com] page. We've been sharing a lot of fun things besides SOHL2 updates, including guest art and progress on our other projects. It would be appreciated if you checked it out if you haven't already! Thank you all again.

They're just having a bit of fun!

Work on Sounds of Her Love 2 has continued! After all the fun of our anniversary, we've pushed forward to make more progress on the game in the last couple of months! So, of course, what better way to celebrate our continued motivation than by sharing new updates with everyone!

It is always a pleasure stopping by, and the support really means a lot to us. Sounds of Her Love 2 is shaping up to be one of our most enjoyable titles yet, so I'm really pleased that this train shows no sign of slowing down. Thank you all!

In terms of updates, things are now in full-swing adding in our voice cast to the game. In addition to Amber Barile[x.com] playing the lovely Ceri, I am also pleased to announce the following talents who'll be joining the music club as our side cast!

• Leader Looi[x.com] as Nonoka Ibaraki - the passionate oboist and leader of the music club!
  
• Shellah[x.com] as Emma McCollough - the approachable and upbeat violinist aka the 'friendly face' of the club.
  
• MJ Lu[x.com] as Iroha Makise - the self-described 'sensible' one, often taking a backseat on antics to practice the flute.

We've been sharing short snippets of their performances over on X/Twitter, but we've compiled a selection below of all our voice talents to give you a feel as to how the game will pan out!

This is, of course, compounded by new art updates by Kimiyoto[x.com], who's been doing fantastic work on new CGs (including the cute chibi ones seen above) and, as you might have noticed, a developing soundtrack by Red Robotix[x.com]!

For a game with such a heavy emphasis on music - it's important for us to have a well-suited soundtrack. Red has been doing an amazing job with this, and we're looking forward to sharing more samples of his work in the upcoming months!

I'm really happy with the direction the game is heading in, so I hope you will all enjoy it too! Working with ebi-hime to co-write the game's script has also been a huge motivation and really polished this cast of characters further than I could imagine. Many of the most memorable, light-hearted scenes with the music club members are her doing, and working with the great cast of VAs listed above, it really has breathed a new energy into this project.

(Of course, the cute lovey-dovey scenes with Ceri haven't gone anywhere either).

Thank you all for your support once again! It was a short one this time, but we will be back soon with more updates in due course. I don't want to fall into oversharing too much of the game, there's plenty of stuff we have firmly under wraps which, I hope, will be a big surprise and receive just as much love as what we've been able to share so far.

Of course, more updates are available over on our X/Twitter[x.com], so please check us out there too! Thank you!

They're having a party and you're invited!

Thank you all for supporting us over the last 7 years! That's a really long time to be honest. At this point, Ceri would be in her mid-twenties...

But of course, time doesn't pass in the world of Sounds of Her Love, but it certainly does for us. What better way to celebrate than by showcasing what we've been doing with that precious time over the last few months of SOHL2 development?

Big thanks to Kimiyoto for another anniversary illustration (and all the great work shown below)!

One of the things we're looking to stress in SOHL2 is our focus on CGs. The original SOHL only contained a few snippets of Ceri spliced here and there throughout the game. Whilst that's cute and all, giving Ceri more opportunity to shine makes clicking through all those lines of text worth it.

Kimiyoto has been doing a fantastic job in this regard and being able to tell Ceri's story through a new variety of CGs is another box we're proud of ticking to make the sequel a step up from the first game (and of course, you get these for free too!).

In addition to wonderful new character art, the world of Sounds of Her Love 2 is also expanding rapidly. Our background artist, Kjkjmulo, has also been working hard on delivering new environments for us to place Ceri in.

Above are two new backgrounds - both very important to the game - that we've happy to be able to showcase in this sequel. First, Ceri's 'harp' room, also known as the spare bedroom. Whilst we never were able to show off Ceri's musical skills in the original game (try finding a royalty free background with a harp in it), it would've been such a shame if we didn't give her the opportunity to perform.

Second, the MC's dining room! Whilst that might not seem too exciting at first, the original BG in SOHL for this was just the most believable alternative we could find. Giving greater depth to our world like this, we hope, will increase the immersion of SOHL2 and allow the cute love story of Ceri to be just that little bit more believable.

Ceri isn't the only focus for SOHL2! We can't forget the music club, right? From left to right, there's Iroha, Nonoka and Emma, the ensemble that'll push Ceri towards her performance at the graduation ceremony.

We're happy to announce that work has begun on casting the voice talent for these characters. Emma and Nonoka have already been cast and a casting call has been announced for Iroha. We will be announcing more in our next devlog update, but you can always check our X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates on SOHL2 development.

Thank you all for your support once again! We will be back soon with more updates, but for now, Happy Anniversary!

Oh no... you scared her!

We have been continuing work developing Sounds of Her Love 2! Thank you all for the warm support on our previous update post. It's really a pleasure reading through supportive comments and we're happy to hear how much the original SOHL has meant to you, from being some of your first VNs to inspiring others to develop VNs themselves, it really means a lot.

It has been 3 months since our last update, so here are a few of the things we've been working on!

Firstly, I am happy to announce that SOHL 2 is getting an animated intro. As it would've been a shame to save this until release, given how cute Ceri is, we decided it would be best to dual purpose it as a 'teaser' trailer as well it's inclusion in the final game.

Huge thanks goes to 'Chloee_desu' for the animation and 'Red Robotix' for the music composition!

In addition to the above, we've also been continuing work on our in-game assets. Our artists, Kimiyoto and Kjkjmulo have been working hard on new CGs and BGs respectively!

Sounds of Her Love 2 is due to feature several new locations and settings in comparison to the original game, alongside reimaginings of memorable locations (because of course, who doesn't remember the first time Ceri let them into their house...). With fully original assets, we are hoping we can deliver something beautiful.

We will continue to develop the game throughout December, and hopefully deliver new previews and updates on our full cast of characters. Work never stops... not even for Christmas! But we do have something special planned, so keep an eye on our social feed come December 23rd... 👀

Thank you all so much again for the support once again! You can follow us on X (formerly Twitter) for more updates!

It's Sounds of Her Love 2 update time!

As promised in our announcement post, we are here to share some occasional progress with Sounds of Her Love 2's development. For those who missed it, we're working on a sequel to the game! - and to those who didn't, thank you so much for the warm reception to our announcement.

We've heard your calls for a sequel many times over the years, but to still see so much love over 6 years on really means a lot and reading your comments and messages has given us an even greater lease to continue pushing with development.

We announced last time that we are looking to release in 2024 and that is still the case! (Unlike some of our other projects, *sweat*). We're happy to report that development is going smoothly - we will look to create a new Steam page for SOHL2 closer to the time we start gearing up for release.

Last time, we announced that we have been working with Kimiyoto, (Sprites/CGs) and Kjkjmulo (BGs) and ebi-hime (Co-Developer / Co-Writer) for the project in addition to SOHL2 being supported by full voice acting and a fully original OST.

We're happy to announce we've been working with Red Robotix for the game's soundtrack alongside a preview above! We've had many reviews praising the soundtrack on the original game (despite it being royalty free music), but we understand the importance of having the right selection of music really defines a game's atmosphere. We hope to deliver something stellar and will be sharing more music tracks as they progress!

We'll be making further announcements about the staff helping to deliver SOHL2 in our next update as we reveal more parts of the game! Nevertheless, to go alongside our cast of support delivering the game is a new cast of characters within it...

Sounds of Her Love 2 follows the music club's attempts to perform at the school's graduation ceremony... and here they are! We're in the progress of creating full bios for these characters, alongside selecting their VAs, so you can get to know them better soon.

As Sounds of Her Love 2 is Ceri's story, these characters will of course not be romanceable, but we hope you'll give them love nonetheless as they contribute to the story in their own ways. Once again, Kimiyoto has done fantastic work delivering our art and I can't thank them enough!

(This one's a WIP, because you know, game dev.)

Finally, our mission to deliver upon the original game is ever continuing. Not only are we working away at delivering new and original backgrounds, music and art for the game but new and exciting features too. There's a lot more we're keeping under wraps so you can enjoy the upcoming release and fall in love with Ceri all over again.

Thank you all so much again for the support once again! You can follow us on X (formerly Twitter) for more updates!

So, it's finally time, huh? After six years of 'Sounds of Her Love', an epilogue, a prequel and a cameo, we have decided it's time to continue Ceri's story... again.

We're happy to announce 'Sounds of Her Love 2' is now in development. Following-up on our short and sweet visual novel, Sounds of Her Love 2 continues the serenading of Ceri with a narrative focused on your newly orchestrated relationship. As spring comes to an end, and with graduation on the horizon, this love-filled story continues to bloom, compounded by new faces, new challenges and new feelings.

For Sounds of Her Love 2, we've enlisted the help of Kimiyoto (Sprites/CGs) and Kjkjmulo (BGs) to design the artwork from the ground up. New original assets will add a level of consistency to Sounds of Her Love 2's art whilst still remaining faithful to the original game. This will be supported by a fully original soundtrack and full voice acting, similar to our previous VN 'Chemically Bonded'.

The best part? Sounds of Her Love 2 will release for free next year.

Given the overwhelming support given to the original and the number of requests we have received to make a sequel, it is only natural for us to want to make it available to all who enjoyed the previous story and the cute glasses-wearing girl it focuses on.

We will not be crowd-funding nor developing the game with any money that hasn't come from our own pockets, and whilst forgoing the ability to recoup costs, Sounds of Her Love 2 is being developed as a passion-project first and foremost. We hope to be able to deliver something on par with or exceeding the original for old and new fans to enjoy.

We're also pleased to announce that Sounds of Her Love 2 is being developed in collaboration with fellow visual novel developer ebi-hime! ebi-hime has worked closely with us, helping to conceive and write around half of Sounds of Her Love 2's narrative. This includes a new cast of supporting characters and heartfelt scenes fitting for this touching love story:

"A sequel to Sounds of Her Love, a sweet romance story between two students set in an international school in Tokyo.

One year has passed since the events of Sounds of Her Love, and your relationship with Ceri has deepened. You have now become a couple and, with your encouragement, Ceri has begun to emerge from her shell.

Leopards don't change their spots that easily, however, and though Ceri has been attempting to overcome her innate shyness, she still has a tendency to doubt herself.

Wanting to boost Ceri's confidence, you encourage her to perform in the school's graduation ceremony with the members of the music club. This will be one of the greatest challenges the timid Ceri has had to face, but you are sure that she will be able to overcome it.

You will be there with her, after all, to reassure her... and you want everybody to know just how far Ceri has come."

We look forward to sharing more about Sounds of Her Love 2, including on our social media pages, over the coming months as it continues to develop - so be sure to follow us for more announcements!

We are also continuing working on our other visual novel projects: 'Thawing Feelings' and 'Syntactic Sugar'.

Thank you all for the support and we look forward to sharing more with you soon.

Interested in knowing what our plans are for Sounds of Her Love? Well, don't fret! We've been busy since release brainstorming new ideas for the title including future updates or remastering. We've come a long way since 2017, so the time will eventually come to look back at Ceri's story and see where we can take it - even if that just comes down to polishing a few things up.

Many of you have said you'd be willing to pay for the game, and as much as we'd like to make that possible, with the licencing around certain assets we're unable to do that. Even so, we'd still release any new update/expansion/remaster/sequel for free anyway! Even if it seems like a long way off, it's still something we're thinking about, as we know how many of you and how much you love the game.

We have already been releasing SOHL web content on Patreon (for free, it was just the easiest place to upload them), which you can check out by clicking the image below.

[www.patreon.com]In other news, we've also been working on our current IP, 'Thawing Feelings', which was recently funded on Kickstarter thanks to your support! You can catch up with progress updates with that by checking out our Twitter page!

Finally, I'm also happy to announce that my friend KeppaTea has also been working hard on her own visual novel, 'Bewitched Hearts'. It was a huge pleasure to work with her (as a writer and UI/logo artist!) and I'd urge people to check out the details by clicking the image below!

'Bewitched Hearts' follows a trio of young hearts as they take a break from the stresses of visual novel development with a Halloween party. However, things quickly get heated after some horror stories and... somehow you accidentally hex your childhood friend, Lilia!

Embark on a journey with brash and impatient Irma, to save Lilia before time runs out...

Will you be able to realize your true feelings and find love along the way?

---

Thank you for checking out this update and hopefully we'll be back soon with more news!

Want to play our latest visual novel? It's coming soon!
Click on the picture below, or this link here, to be taken to our newest Kickstarter campaign page for our upcoming VN, Thawing Feelings!

Thawing Feelings will be a contemporary take on the traditional, romantic visual novel. The game will include a rich and atmospheric story and provide a realistic look at relationship and identity struggles during young adulthood, including sensual adult scenes and a story driven narrative.

Please look forward to it!

So we finally caved to the pressure...

Ever since Sounds of Her Love came out, you all have been asking for achievements. While I never really thought they were necessary, I think it's about time to breathe a new lease of life into the game and bring back some old and new Ceri fans to the WISJ (she probably misses you too).

Now that's that, you should go back and give Ceri some love.

In other news... it's summer! And that means, cute girls doing cute things discounted for 50% off! ICYMI: We released a commercial VN last year - original assets, full voice acting, cute girls - Ceri even shows up too! If you like our work and you're interested in supporting us, you can get 'Chemically Bonded' for $4.99 for the next two weeks:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/734900/Chemically_Bonded/

Besides that, as always, we're really active over on Twitter. We're working on a new game, 'Thawing Feelings', which we'll be posting more about soon.

Stay safe and stay cute!

- ds-sans